Lutheran

Join LEAN’s Mission As It Enters New Era

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As the state of Nevada awaits the November 2024 general election and start of its next biennial legislative session in February 2025, Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada (LEAN) finds itself in a transition period with plenty of potential for growth in advocacy action ahead.

LEAN’s advocacy work is indeed central to God and the church’s continued presence in the world, and with so much ongoing need among what Jesus called “the least of these” in Matthew 25, the organization will continue speaking up for the voiceless, powerless and marginalized in Nevada, guide by the ELCA’s Social Statements.

A Successful Session

LEAN entered 2024 on the heels of a fruitful 2023 legislative session. A total of 12 bills supported by LEAN on the basis of its main areas of advocacy — Criminal Justice, Health Care, Education, Children and Family, and Housing and Human Dignity — were passed by the legislature and signed into law by Gov. Joe Lombardo thanks to the hard work of Advocate Bill Ledford, blessings of the LEAN Policy Council, and continued support of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America congregations throughout the West, especially those in the Grand Canyon Synod (Southern Nevada) and Sierra Pacific Synod (Northern Nevada). While other supported bills did not make it to the governor’s desk, the session as a whole yielded positive, justice and fairness-driven change at the state level as the world continued to recover from the economic and social shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Fond Goodbyes

The year 2023 also brought loss to the LEAN family.

On April 15, Larry Struve, who for more than a decade led the advocacy efforts for LEAN and its previous incarnations including Lutheran Episocopal Advocacy in Nevada, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry in Nevada and the Religious Alliance in Nevada, passed at age 80 after a long illness. Larry spent more than 26 years in public service, including stints in the Nevada Attorney General’s office and Washoe County District Attorney’s office, and as Director of Nevada’s Commerce Department and Director of Business Finance and Planning for the Nevada Department of Business and Industry. He was also a lifelong member of Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd in Reno.

Larry set the standard for faith-based advocacy in the state, chronicling his efforts in his 2013 book A Humble Walk for Justice: Advocacy for the Least of These in Nevada, 2001-2012. “When the simple act of advocacy directed at the hearts and minds of those entrusted to govern made policy decisions that better served the common good, something was at work that appealed to the better nature of those officials,” he wrote in the book’s introduction. “The words spoken by an advocate, grounded in the wisdom of scripture, helped define what justice required in modern times.”

Larry’s successor, Mike Patterson, passed on November 13. An ordained Episcopal priest and former school teacher, Mike acted as LEAN’s legislative advocate for several years, speaking strongly for state support of the public education system and stronger laws against the scourge of human trafficking. He also led several direct community outreach efforts on LEAN’s behalf, including food drives for the Food Bank of Northern Nevada and what he called “Pencils for Pupils,” which provided school supplies to teachers in at-risk elementary and middle schools.

Larry and Mike were tireless, dedicated, and focused advocates on behalf of thousands of Christian believers in Nevada’s halls of power. Their spirits will live on as LEAN charts its way forward, toward the next legislative session and beyond.

Another Goodbye, New Challenges

In November 2017, LEAN named Bill Ledford as its new legislative advocate on the recommendation of Mike Patterson, who went on to mentor Bill during the 2019 session while continuing on as a policy board member (another experienced Christian advocate and board member, Allan Smith, also served as an interim LEAN advocate and advisor as well as a board member).

Recently relocated to Nevada from Oregon with a young family, Bill brought to LEAN a deep desire to live out his Christian faith as tireless voice for the state’s marginalized residents, including LBGTQI+ communities. He served with distinction through three legislative session even as he attended Lutheran seminary and learned the liturgical and leadership ropes as an intern at Lord of Mercy in Sparks, Nevada. He completed his studies and was recommended for ordination as the new year dawned.

Bill’s commitment to Christian leadership and service was realized with his calling to be pastor at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Logan, Utah, a congregation in the Rocky Mountain Synod of the ELCA. He was ordained as pastor of word and sacrament at Lord of Mercy on March 3 with Rocky Mountain Bishop Jim Gonia presiding, and will begin his pastorate in Utah on March 10.

Bill’s blessed departure positions LEAN at an important crossroads, with much discernment and direction to be undertaken and pursued over the balance of 2024, with input from national and synod leaders, congregations and their pastors, and other interested parties.

While the policy board update its partnership agreements and job descriptions in preparation to seek and identify at least one new legislative advocate—and perhaps two, representing the northern and southern halves of the state—longtime board member Vic Williams will serve as as connection point for Bill’s ministry partners throughout the west and state, reaching out to stakeholders to maintain a continuous conversation regarding ideas, goals and best practices. Meanwhile, the policy board will continue its work to identify and welcome new members to its ranks, with the goal of establishing proper representation from all corners of the state. The board nominally meets monthly via Zoom with the legislature is in session and at least bimonthly during off years, and strives to meet in person periodically as well.

Broad goals for LEAN in the near term also include:

• Identifying and recruiting contacts at the congregational level to keep members apprised of activities, events and advocacy opportunities, and inviting policy input at the pew level

• Planning and coordinating informative, effective, and useful events on a regional or congregational basis. These could include seminars on various public needs and ministry goals, led by LEAN and its advocacy partners, non-profit organization and public assistance agencies, and other stakeholders

• Work more closely with other organizations and agencies to identify opportunities for fundraising and volunteer involvement

LEAN will post updates on policy objectives, staffing and board progress, and other news in the coming months. In the native, Nevadans who feel called to become a LEAN policy board member or serve in some other capacity can contact Vic Williams at vwilliams@leanforjustice.org.

LEAN POLICY BOARD

Pastor Diane Drach-Meinel, President

Dr. Ed Cotton, Vice-President

Vic Williams, Secretary/Treasurer

Pastor Mari Larson, At-Large Member

ELCA Bishop: Care For Each Other In Age of Coronavirus

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Note: On March 8, ELCA Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton issued the following letter regarding coronavirus and COVID-19, the resulting illness now spreading around the world. It also appeared on the ELCA website.

In 1527 the plague returned to Wittenberg, Germany. Two hundred years earlier the plague had swept across Europe killing up to 40% of the population. Understandably, people were anxious and wondered what a safe and faithful response might be. In answer to this, Martin Luther wrote “Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague.” In it, he emphasized the duty to care for the neighbor, the responsibility of government to protect and provide services to its citizens, a caution about recklessness, and the importance of science, medicine and common sense.

Wittenberg, Germany

To provide care for the neighbor, Luther recommended that pastors, those in public office, doctors and public servants should remain in the city. Luther himself remained in Wittenberg to care for his people. He recommended that public hospitals be built to accommodate those with the plague. He condemned those who took unnecessary risks that put themselves and others in danger of contagion. Luther also encouraged the use of reason and medicine, writing,

“God has created medicines and has provided us with intelligence to guard and take care of the body. … Use medicine; take potions which can help you; fumigate house, yard, and street; shun persons and places wherever your neighbor does not need your presence”

(“Whether One May Flee From a Deadly Plague,” 1527).

We are living in the time of the coronavirus. We are also living in the time of social media and constant, relentless news coverage. Many of our people have the same concerns as those in Luther’s day. Many of our people are anxious. Luther’s counsel, based on Scripture, is still sound. Respect the disease. Do not take unnecessary risks. Provide for the spiritual and physical needs of the neighbor. Make use of medical aid. Care for one another, especially the most vulnerable.

The churchwide organization recommends the following for churchwide staff: Wash your hands, stay home when you are sick, wear a mask if you have symptoms, consult your medical provider. Bishops and pastors will provide guidelines for worship and church gatherings.

Luther also reminded his people and us that we should trust God’s faithfulness and promises, particularly the promise eternal life. Paul writes:

“ If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s.”

Romans 14:8

In peace,

The Rev. Elizabeth A. Eaton
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

A Lenten Message From Sierra Pacific Synod

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The following message from Sierra Pacific Synod Bishop Mark Holmerud originally appeared in the synod’s February 26, 2020 newsletter.

[Recently], as a group of ELCA leaders visited and prayed on both sides of the border with Mexico, the California Assembly issued an apology for the role our state played in rounding up about 120,000 people during WWII – mainly U.S. citizens – and moving them into 10 concentration camps, including two in California. 78 years ago, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed an executive order authorizing the internment of Japanese Americans. In a unanimous vote, the Assembly passed the following resolution:

“Resolved by the Assembly of the State of California, That the Assembly apologizes to all Americans of Japanese ancestry for its past actions in support of the unjust exclusion, removal, and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II, and for its failure to support and defend the civil rights and civil liberties of Japanese Americans during this period.”

I remember my mother telling me that one of her best friends, who was Japanese American, was suddenly taken from their Linda Vista neighborhood in San Diego along with her family and never heard from again. My mother’s family, who were of German heritage and who spoke German in the home, faced no such reprisals. They were white.

The history of our country in its treatment of people of color is nothing less than shameful and horrific. In addition to the internment of Japanese American citizens during WWII, there is the decimation and colonization of the Indigenous peoples of America, the enslavement of people who were brought here in chains from Africa and the continuing discrimination people of African heritage deal with every day. Recently, government policies have been enacted that are separating Latinx families at the border who are seeking to immigrate to this country. Having just experienced what is happening at our southern border, I wonder, will it take nearly 80 years before the California Assembly or the United States Congress issues an apology to those who have sought asylum, refuge and justice from the people of a nation whose pledge of allegiance to our flag ends with the words “with liberty and justice for all?”

White Privilege, xenophobic attitudes and government policies foster other forms of race-based discrimination, oppression and violence. There are deep racial divides in our country. What does our church have to say about this and others who have been victimized? The history of violence towards and the repression of women seeking gender equality is a struggle that is far from over, just as the continuing struggle of LGBTQIA+ people seeking equity, access and safety is an ongoing concern in many parts of this country.

In the recent past, our ELCA has adopted statements which are offered as public apologies, teaching tools, and aspirations for how the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to see people as Jesus saw everyone – as a beloved child of God. These actions were taken as strong statements of our intention to seek and serve those who continue to cry out for justice, and who look to us as Christ’s representatives on Earth to be agents of peace and reconciliation. I invite you to follow the links below and wonder with others in your congregation / community / ministry how these statements might become conversations, ministries, actions — “God’s work with our Hands” — in and through your ministry for the community you have been called to serve.

Peace,

Bp. Mark Holmerud

Is It Time For Larger LEAN Partnerships?

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ACTIONN, NCG Could Be Apt Allies

By Sheila Freed

LEAN Advocate Bill Ledford and I recently attended an event hosted by ACTIONN (Action in Community Together In Organizing Northern Nevada) to kick off their 2020 Civic Engagement campaign.

The event was entertainment with a message, if you will. There was music interspersed with informal talks. All the speakers were pastors and lay people who have taken time off from their work and families to travel the country by bus, promoting the notion that ethics in public life is the only way to solve the problems this country faces. Their slogan is, “Faith, Hope, and Love.”

The group’s name is Vote Common Good, and it springs from belief that all religions, but especially Christian religions, need to take seriously God’s call to love one another and to care for the least among us. Their “Love in Politics” program calls for Christians and others to refrain from the rancorous discourse we all engage in. The group features the passage from 1 Corinthians 13 that begins “Love is patient, Love is Kind.” We are reminded that passage also says Love is not self-seeking, Love rejoices in the truth, does not dishonor others, does not envy or boast, and always protects.

Vote Common Good is non-denominational, comes from the Evangelical segment of Christianity, but recognizes that non-Christian faiths share the same desires for peace and justice for all. ACTIONN is also non-denominational and fully interfaith.

LEAN is somewhat like ACTIONN, because both seek justice and equality for all, but never endorse political candidates. Our methods are different. LEAN “speaks truth to power” at the Legislature through Bill Ledford, and strives to educate parishioners on the issues and on ways to be engaged, effective citizens. ACTIONN is more of a “community organizing” entity. There is a similar organization in Southern Nevada called Nevadans for the Common Good.

Both ACTIONN and Nevadans for the Common Good are generally referred to as “FBOs,” or faith-based organizing groups. Many people view community organizing as vaguely socialist, but in about 2010, the ELCA took positive note of the FBO movement. And today there is a section of the ELCA website devoted to “congregation-based community organizing.” The website notes that “[H]undreds of ELCA congregations have ventured beyond their walls through congregation-based community organizing to address the larger causes of the pressures they and their communities face each day. This can be a witness to the fact that we are a church that believes Jesus is God’s “Yes” to us. Our lives can be a “Yes” to others.

LEAN has considered collaborating with ACTIONN and Nevadans for the Common Good. Both call for membership of institutions rather than individuals. Lutheran Social Services of Nevada, based in Las Vegas, is a member of NCG. At least three Lutheran congregations are also members: Holy Spirit, New Song, and Reformation. No Lutheran congregations in Northern Nevada have joined ACTIONN, but individuals are active.

One Lutheran pastor wrote a few years ago that FBO’s such as ACTIONN and NCG are most effective when they empower ordinary people to hold public figures accountable to their commitments. This means public officials and those running for office will face questions from ACTIONN and NCG about policies that these groups support. The objectives are to establish effective, trusting relationships with officials while also holding them accountable. ACTIONN and NCG worked together last year to push through the Legislature some excellent measures, particularly in the area of low-income housing. LEAN supported these same bills.

The question now for LEAN is whether deeper collaboration with either or both groups would be appropriate or effective.

The Advocacy Beat Goes On

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The 2019 Nevada Legislature is slated to adjourn on Monday, June 3, barring a last-minute extension.

When it ends, the presiding officer in each chamber adjourns the meeting “sine die.”  This is a Latin phrase, universally mispronounced, that translates literally as “without a day.”  It makes it sound terribly final, as if no one is ever coming back again.  We all know that two years from now many of the same people will be back, often confronting the same issues. 

The work of government goes on, even when the Legislature is not in session.

LEAN’s work continues as well.  Lutheran Engagement and Advocacy in Nevada exists for two related reasons:  To speak out on behalf of the least among us to elected officials, and to Lutherans and others across the state.  Both groups have power to change things.

LEAN has a paid Advocate at the Legislature during the Session. Bill Ledford has done well in his first session, testifying about proposals that the LEAN Board has chosen to take a position on. Some of these bills have passed, some have not. Next month we will sort some of this out.  Right now, a lot isn’t known, because so much legislation is decided in the last few days of a session. “Backroom Deals” are unfortunately common.

A previous post here was about several reforms that had been postponed because they carry spending requirements. Such postponements help set up conditions ripe for backroom deals, because pressure to “just get finished” is huge.

The deadline also enhances the power of lobbyists.  In the final days, there isn’t time for careful analysis of bills, and there is a tendency for legislators to rely on lobbyists for information, biased as it might be.

This is why it is so important for LEAN to have an Advocate at the Legislature.  Bill Ledford has been working all session to establish personal relationships with Senators and Assembly Members.  He has worked to explain why particular measures are good or bad policy in a just society.  He has worked to articulate our Lutheran Christian values as outlined in the ELCA Social Statements.

Bill’s advocacy and that of LEAN generally does not end at “sine die” any more than legislators become just private citizens when they go back home.  Bill will continue to connect with them, sometimes to discuss plans to try again in the next session to pass measures that failed, sometimes to discuss interim studies that take place between sessions.

The “interim,” or time between sessions, also is a time for LEAN to focus more on parishioners, helping them to understand the issues and the various ways those issues might be addressed. 

Financial support is needed to keep all this work going.  LEAN receives funds from ELCA Churchwide, and from the Sierra Pacific and Grand Canyon Synods.  We also receive support from congregations throughout the two synods.  LEAN is grateful for all support, and we operate frugally.

We hope to emphasize the “engagement” part of our name more in the next eighteen months.  Many know about the Legislative website, and about the resources it offers for keeping informed and for expressing views on legislation.  This does not disappear when the session ends.  We hope to do some training so more people can learn the tools at their disposal.  We are blessed to live in a state where direct access to elected officials is easy.  Martin Luther viewed committed, informed citizenship part of our Christian calling, and this is echoed in the first ELCA Social Statement, “The Church in Society.”  A lot has been written lately about how individuals need to work to reclaim democracy from special interests.  LEAN hopes to work with Lutherans and legislators across the state toward that goal.